Parents, beware! According to a University of British Columbia study led by Jelena Obradović, presently an assistant professor in the School of Education at Stanford University, kids who are sensitive to stress, despite being prone to behavior and health problems, are likely to do extremely well, even better than their peers, when raised in a supportive environment. Obradović compares these children to “orchids.”

What does this mean for adults who are sensitive and prone to responding to stress with anxiety? What you or others might view as a weakness if looked at from another perspective, can actually be a strength. Where would the world be without sensitive individuals? Try to imagine art, music, literature, science, medicine, religion, and so on devoid of the contributions of sensitive or “high-strung” people. Don’t view your sensitivity as merely a weakness—it could very well indicate a undiscovered talent.

(The original story can be found at Science Daily—Society for Research in Child Development. “High Sensitivity to Stress Isn’t Always Bad for Children.” ScienceDaily 7 February 2010).